The SDF includes the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, one of the stated targets of Turkey’s intervention in the Syrian war.

Turkey-backed Syrian rebels captured two villages from forces allied to the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Observatory said the SDF-allied Jarablus Military Council fighters had withdrawn from the villages of al-Amarna and Ayn al-Bayda as the rebels backed by Turkish tanks advanced into them.

The SDF includes the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, one of the stated targets of Turkey’s intervention in the Syrian war. The YPG, however, has said its fighters have withdrawn from the targeted area.

A Syrian rebel commander said the rebels had also captured the village of Dabis

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